Daycare
by daysandweeks
Summary: A few minutes in the day of Nightwing's Daycare.


**I work at a daycare, so I had the idea to write some day care fanfiction.**

**This takes place in the present day. Gemma is two, so estimate the ages of the other characters based off of that. For the ones whose ages have never been given, I just made one up, so base their age off of the age they act (though no one ever acts their age at a day care, haha).**

**Mrs. Nightwing is the daycare owner. She's much less dour in this than usual, but you have to have a sense of humor to work in a day care.**

**Read and review if you're up for something silly and random.**

"Miss Niiiiiiiiiiii."

Two-year-old Gemma Doyle can't say the name of her occasionally beloved, often detested Mrs. Nightwing properly yet. Still, when she's upset, she manages to get the point across in some fashion.

"Miss Niiiiiiiiiiii." Gemma's wailing continues. Fat tears stream down the child's cheeks as she points at the event taking place before her traumatized eyes.

"What is the matter, Gemma?" Mrs. Nightwing heads towards the crying toddler. Gemma now has one hand on her hip, and is pointing with the other towards two other children named Felicity and Kartik. "What happened?"

"She _bit_," Gemma sobs.

Mrs. Nightwing cannot understand what is going on at all. "Felicity bit you?" At four, Felicity has gotten along with Gemma for some time now. She's been like an older sister to her.

"I didn't!" Felicity exclaims, shaking her head vehemently. Her white-blonde hair shakes with it, and she tightens her hands into small fists.

"Kark!!" Gemma exclaims. She, too, is frustrated now. Her tears subside as she tries to get her point across. "She bit Kark!" It seems that Mrs. Nightwing is not the only name Gemma can't say.

Upon hearing that Felicity has bit him, Kartik's eyes fill with tears. The three-year-old's bottom lip trembles, but only slightly. His finger doesn't hurt anymore, but his feelings are still hurt. Still, he won't let the blonde girl get the best of him that easily.

"Felicity, is this true?" Mrs. Nightwing's voice is admonishing as Felicity nods, an almost proud look on her face. "Tell Kartik you're sorry."

"I'm sorry, Kartik," Felicity murmurs, but it is obvious that she doesn't really mean it.

Mrs. Nightwing lets out a soft sigh. "I think it would be best if you two separated." She rarely lets Felicity and Kartik play together. Though they are both friends with Gemma, the two do not get along at all. "Fee, why don't you go play dolls with Pippa?" Felicity beams at the idea and scurries off to join her darling friend.

The room is temporarily peaceful. Mrs. Nightwing checks on the other children who are playing calmly together. Cecily and Elizabeth complete a puzzle and Ithal enjoys a computer game.

Thomas Doyle, Gemma's older brother, is attempting the play with the babies, Martha and Ann. Martha is unresponsive. She's more interested in Cecily and Elizabeth's puzzle, and keeps stealing their pieces, trying to help, much to the dismay of the two older girls. "My puzzle!" four-year-old Cecily exclaims, and Mrs. Nightwing tells her that that is not the way to talk to her friends at all.

Ann, however, is enjoying the older boy's attentions. He's shaking a rattle at her, which she finds very entertaining. Mrs. Nightwing smiles as Ann's face lights up. Their play is disrupted, though, when Pippa calls from across the room. "Tommy! Did you take my Barbie's dress?"

Tom turns around and approaches Pippa. "Of course not! It's _tacky_."

Pippa doesn't know what tacky means, but she glares at Tom and turns to look at her naked Barbie. Mrs. Nightwing laughs quietly to herself, but it soon becomes impossible to keep her giggles down. Tom has left Pippa for his sister Gemma, who _was_ playing with Kartik. Now the siblings are tormenting each other, though not in a way that Mrs. Nightwing feels reprimanding is necessary for, or at least not yet.

Tom takes a ball that Gemma has lost interest in from her. "My ball!" he says.

Gemma shakes her head and grabs for it, but Tom won't give it back. After many tries, she seemingly gives up. As a last bit of retaliation, however, Gemma rips Thomas' shoe off of his foot.

"Gemma! No grabbing!" Mrs. Nightwing admonishes.

"You've ruined my favorite shoe!" Tom cries out, snatching his shoe back. He's over exaggerating, but that hardly matters. Gemma should not have grabbed his shoe.

Pippa's voice is heard once more. Again, she is looking for her Barbie's missing dress. "Simon, do you have it?" She approaches the boy, who is currently holding court with Elizabeth and Cecily, who have given up on their puzzle for now.

"Of course not," Simon says, turning back to the other two girls. They're talking about race cars, which means that there are a lot of sound effects and motions, giving Simon plenty of opportunity to ignore Pippa.

"Simon! I know you stole it!" The roaring of an engine is her only response.

Felicity Worthington won't have Pippa being treated this way. She struts across the room and stands in front of Simon. Cecily and Elizabeth let out groans, annoyed that Felicity has blocked their conversation. Mrs. Nightwing thinks that she should tell Felicity to move, but the determination in the little girl's stride and the way that Simon stopped mid-_vroom_ makes her think better of it. "I know you have it, Simon," Felicity growls. "Now give it back to Pippa."

Simon glares at Felicity. "I don't have it," he says, annoyed. "Now move." He notices Mrs. Nightwing watching them and adds a quick, "Please."

Felicity nods and walks off to play with Pippa some more. The two girls skip together to their corner of the room, laughing merrily. Gemma soon joins them, and they play with the younger girl, and even invite little Ann, once she toddles over on unsure legs.

A few minutes pass and Simon approaches Gemma. He has a piece of fabric in his hand. Mrs. Nightwing squints and sees that it's the dress from Pippa's Barbie. He passes it to Gemma, walks away, and Gemma hands it to Pippa.

Mrs. Nightwing should have known. Simon always did spend a lot of time taking off all of the Barbie dolls' clothes whenever someone brought one in.

A loud scream erupts and Mrs. Nightwing rushes across the room to Elizabeth, who is clinging to Cecily, terrified. "WORM!" she yells. "WORM!"

"Get off!" Cecily cries, pushing Elizabeth off of her.

"Girls! Calm down!" Mrs. Nightwing exclaims. "Where is the worm, Elizabeth? Worms aren't anything to fear."

Elizabeth points to Tom's shoelace. Tom's jaw drops and he quips, "My shoe is not a worm."

Mrs. Nightwing shakes her head walks away to check on Ithal. "Are you still stuck on Level 2?" she asks the boy.

"No," Ithal says. He is a quiet boy, and she suspects that he doesn't need much help. He might take his time on games, but he eventually figures things out. Kartik has approached Ithal as well, wanting to help him with the game. Kartik knows that he is too young to play computer games, but Mrs. Nightwing doesn't have to tell him that. The boys share a glance, and Kartik immediately walks off to invite Gemma to help him finish Cecily and Elizabeth's discarded puzzle.

For a split second, everything in the room is quiet. Not even the clicking of Ithal's mouse interrupts the solitude. A loud scream from Cecily, though, changes that. "MRS. NIGHTWING! FELICITY AND PIPPA ARE KISSING!"


End file.
